cough cough... I am being choked . . . :: ArchivedThis is a forum for Software related items such as OS', Virus notices, cool or free programs, etc. Gaming software should go in the gaming folder pertaining to the current info.

Have you checked what's start'n up at boot by going to start-run and type in msconfig. Then go to the startup tab at top. If your not sure what to uncheck just do one at a time and you will have to reboot each time you hit apply but this little trick will free up a lot of resources. I f your puter needs what u unchecked to run it will automatically start back up. Also there a some that needs to run for some of your proggy's to work right like your firewall and anti virus so after you reboot if everything still works leave it unchecked.

Another idea that comes to mind is to run your updated spyware proggy at least once a week. Those little buggars will slow u way down.

Avast can seriously slow down your browser when you try to open it for the first time after a reboot.
Avast runs 6 processes in the back ground, checking browsers, mail and applications you wish to use, it also checks web pages before they open IIRC.

Not as bad as Norton but I think Avast is slowly getting there. I'm thinking of going back to AVG because of the slowness of Avast.

Sorry for the long delay in response, I was out of town on business...

Slow, Homey is right in trying to find out what's using the resources. Almost always a slow machine is due to too one or more programs running in the background taking up and demanding the use of the CPU to the point the CPU will be forced to process the information in stages as cached. And Example would be to compare it to rush hour traffic. Too many cars and not enough road is roughly the same thing.

Kit is right about Avast and I've seen that many times. I've since gone in two directions with Windows Anti-Virus programs. AVG and Avira. Both are free and both work well and yes both have their advantages. AVG scans everything incoming and outgoing and is in my opinion a great anti-virus. Avira will install along side of other maintenance programs and does a great job 'rooting out' more stubborn or obscure bugs.

Of course, if it's REALLY SLOW, that would be suspect to something trying to 'take over the pc' such as Trojans or dialer programs. I would suggest running Avira first, then Spybot Search and Destroy next and see what happens. If all fails at that point, I would reinstall the OS.

Of course, on my machine, I would simply use LinuxMint and avoid all the other crap all together...lol

Guys,
Nothing official but I'm hearing lots of complaints about Flashplayer doing this very thing since the last patch.
I thought it was a bunch of n00b-talk but have started suffereing from exactly the same thing over the last two weeks and then, one night, IE8, and the damned Fox both started crashing and I was getting error messages linking it straight back to Adobe Flashplayer.
Not had the crashes since but it's still slow.
Nothing from Adobe but I've been asking around and a few others are experiencing the same thing.
Don't know what to suggest but you heard it here first if it turns out to be correct.
Watch this space.